Written by Thomas Moore

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It's nice that the Cleveland Cavaliers have four players taking part in this weekend's All-Star Game festivities, but there is a small part of us that wishes it wasn't so.

Because right now what Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller probably need, more than anything, is time away from the game to rest up. Especially Irving, who played 27 minutes in Friday's Rising Stars Challenge, will take part in tonight's 3-point contest and represent the Cavs in the actual All-Star Game on Sunday.

"They'll probably have him do a bunch of stuff," Cavs coach Byron Scott told The Plain Dealer earlier in the week. "So I'm a little concerned coming back he'll be more tired. But that's something we'll deal with Monday when he comes back."

We're with you coach.

That's a lot of extra activity for a player who spent the past week talking about how tired he is - and that fatigue is starting to show up in the box score. In the three games leading up to the All-Star break, Irving shot just 36 percent from the field, culminating in his 2-for-15 night on Wednesday against San Antonio, and only went to free throw line eight times total in the three games.

For someone with Irving's injury history, a little extra rest and relaxation sounds like a pretty good idea. For his part, it doesn't sound like Irving shares our concerns.

"I have to (attend all the events)," he told The-News Herald. "It's part of the experience of my first full year in the NBA. The All-Star weekend is not a break for me. I'll try to get my legs back under me."

As for the other Cavs in Friday night's game, Waiters had 23 points (on 11-of-12 shooting), Thompson had 20 points and 1o rebounds while Zeller added four points and four rebounds. But let's not oversell the Cavs having four players involved in the game. For a team with so many young players on the roster, they really should be well represented if general manager Chris Grant is doing his job. If the NFL had a version of this game, the roster would be loaded with players from the Browns, but they would still be the Browns.

For the Cavs trio not named Irving, the weekend is over and they can start resting up for the second half of the season, which resumes Wednesday night against New Orleans. And having such a strong shooting night can't hurt Waiters' confidence (not that anyone should really be worried about Waiters losing confidence in his shot).

For his part, Zeller sounds like he's ready to not do much for a few days.

“I don’t know where the rookie wall is, but it’s definitely lingering," he told The Beacon Journal earlier this week. “This break, to get a couple of days off and clear your head a little bit, it’ll be kind of rejuvenating for the second half of the season. I’m looking forward to that.”

For some fans, having a player from the local team selected to an All-Star game is somehow validation that their team is relevant on the national stage and, at one point, we were in that category. It was nice to see the Cavs represented in the late '80s and early '90s at a time when they didn't get much national love compared to the Bulls or the Knicks. But those feelings have passed and now, while it is nice for Irving, it doesn't really do anything for us as a fan - we are now firmly in the team first camp (and that extends to the Olympics as well).

And it's not like Irving isn't getting national attention for his play this season. A few weeks ago, Grantland's Zach Lowe named Irving to his All-Fun All-Star team, writing that:

"About a month ago, I was chatting with two NBA officials at a Knicks game a few days after Irving had come to New York and put up 41 points in a ludicrous near-comeback. None of us had attended that game, and we all agreed: We'd never miss an Irving visit to New York City again. He is already one of the half-dozen most entertaining players in the league, with an unusual combination of poise, smoothness, explosiveness, and creativity in the lane. That jumper … my god, that jumper. Every once in awhile, he'll unleash something so crazy — a running/fading lefty floater from the baseline, for instance — as to require an immediate rewind and/or audible profanity. He's still a limited defender, but that's typical of most young guards carrying heavy offensive responsibility, and he's getting better. Electrifying."

Who knows? Perhaps we are worrying too much and Irving won't break down during the second half of the season from too much work. And it's not as if the Cavs will need him for an extended playoff run this spring (at least not this year, that is).

Maybe we should be happy that the Cavs once again have a player that other fans want to watch, one with a combination of "poise, smoothness, explosiveness and creativity." Perhaps we should not be so selfish and welcome the opportunity to share with the rest of the country what we get to see every time the Cavs take the court (especially as the Cavs are no longer allowed on national television).

But it would still be a bit more comforting to know that Irving was resting at home on Sunday and watching the game on TV as opposed to running up and down the court in Houston.

(Photo by The Associated Press)